India likely to impose guidelines on accommodation aggregators

The couple got married on March 7, 2011, as per Hindu rituals. She was allegedly harassed by her in-laws and soon thrown out of her husband's home.India could become the next country to impose guidelines on accommodation aggregators such as Airbnb and Oyo to help ensure safety, security and service standards, joining the US, France, Germany , Singapore and others that have already done so. The ministry of tourism is in discussions on guidelines for accrediting online platforms that have homestay owners and hotels registered with them.

"There is a question of regulating aggregators," said Suman Billa, joint secretary, ministry of tourism. "An aggregator is anybody with a web site and there is a possibility that a couple of companies could spoil the market if trust is broken. We need to accredit aggregators. So we have set up a committee and we are considering setting benchmarks and guidelines at two levels: for owner-partners and aggregators."

The idea is that certain minimum standards in service, cleanliness and hygiene are met.

"We have a set of guidelines for homestays and bed and breakfast options and states have their own guidelines as well," Billa said."Now we are planning to create a single set of uniform guidelines across the country. There could be several service issues.There needs to be a certain level of screening and an element of trust."

Singapore's parliament passed a new law in February making it illegal for home owners to rent out entire apartments and rooms for less than six months to aggregators such as Airbnb without permission from the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

Lobby groups such as the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) have been calling for uniformity in regulations and tax structures between hotels and online aggregators. Some establishments are running full-fledged hotels without adhering to rules and not paying taxes by calling themselves bed and breakfast homestays, HRAWI president Dilip Datwani had said in a release.

"While five-star hotels pay a substantial 38% of the room revenue as direct and indirect taxes, some of the lavish bungalows listed in hotel aggregator sites like Airbnb do not pay a single rupee as taxes."

Getting permission to start a hotel is a complicated affair, he said.

"Over 42 licences are needed to start and operate an organised sector hotel, while the unregulated sector ope rates without a single licence," he said. The regulations that the licensed establishments have to follow are vast and cover fire safety measures, food safety measure, hygiene parameters and many other compliances."

While Germany banned unlicensed rentals from May 1 last year, Barcelona slapped a 6,00,000 fine on Airbnb in November for what was considered illegal advertising for room rentals.